Slowhatch, puddin, kogs and I have have been working behind the scenes in an attempt to track down our teams for some time.

We can now tell you that we do have confirmation by LAX that filming was done there by WRP.

But even more interesting is what we don't have.

After hours on the phone with various officials in the film world, and a site visit by Slowhatch to EIDC, we do NOT have any evidence that film permits were obtained for LA, and have in fact been told that no permits were issued.

I have also been assured that there was no support arranged with/by the CHP, who would have been involved had the teams been on the highways.

All of these conversations have been with the people who either issue the permits or would have known had a permit been issued.

What does this mean? Well, if we believe these assurances, and I have no reason to think otherwise, then LA could not have been the start city. No permits--no filming.

So how did teams get to LAX and why were they seen in an Internationl Terminal?

The most obvious answer is that they were in transit thru LAX from somewhere else, and the start city has yet to be found.

This also fits with our earlier possible start dates of July 1-3, and new reports of team sightings in Belize.

For completeness sake, I can also tell you that Boston, Baltimore, Annapolis, Chicago and Houston and Houston airport have all been pretty much ruled out as well, although it is important to remember that that refers to within the city limits of those cities ONLY.

We still can not overlook the possibility that the teams were all flown independently to Belize City or Mexico and upon arrival began the Race there which would account for no USofA airport sightings. If teams flew independently without camera crews shooting they could very easily slip through our nets.

Agree that the sighting in LAX Interntional terminal was that of a transition site between arriving from Mexico and getting on Aer Lingus flight to Dublin. No shooting in LAX so no film permits required.

or they started in a small city away from a major airport and then made a connection to goto the first city

I too grasped the significance of Kerry when seeing Joan Lyne's background. On the surface that would appear to favor Shannon airport as the arrival airport for The Amazing Race. However, Ireland is so compact that even from Dublin airport there would be only a 2.5 hour disadvantage in getting to southwestern Ireland. Also, the disadvantages and extra flying time to connect anywhere to get into Shannon would still argue for arriving in Dublin airport on the nonstop from LAX cited in one of my previous posts.

I too grasped the significance of Kerry when seeing Joan Lyne's background. On the surface that would appear to favor Shannon airport as the arrival airport for The Amazing Race. However, Ireland is so compact that even from Dublin airport there would be only a 2.5 hour disadvantage in getting to southwestern Ireland. Also, the disadvantages and extra flying time to connect anywhere to get into Shannon would still argue for arriving in Dublin airport on the nonstop from LAX cited in one of my previous posts.

I am glad to see that TPTB finally followed our suggestion of a leg in Ireland. How long ago did we first suggest the Irish countryside as a TAR location? At least three or four TARs ago.

AR10 went to Kiev, Ukraine, but Prague is long overdue (although ARA2 has just gone there) and Transylvania could be interesting. The way back from Ouagadougou to Dubrovnik has not been determined yet, so Bucharest is a possible stop (although one of about 100 such possibilities).